The thing about Biden, which is the thing about a lot of men, is that he’s not a “predator” in the sense that he’s maliciously planning to hug women without their consent, or getting off on making people uncomfortable.

No, I genuinely think that Biden simply cannot see outside of himself — that he believes that if he views the world one way, that is how it is.

You see this in his video: he seems incapable of conceiving if the possibility that his hugs have always been unwanted by some people. Instead, hugs are a way of showing caring, and the only problem is we now show caring with selfies instead.

This is the kind of mindset that leads someone to speak for thirty minutes at a women’s event where they’ve only been allotted a mere five — hey, they wanted to go long, so everyone else wanted it too, right?

It is the kind of mindset that leads people to run for president.

And — and I cannot stress this enough — this is not just Biden. Many men are like this.

Most of my experiences of sexual assault came, not from predator types, but from men like this, men who assumed that if they wanted an experience with me it must necessarily be consensual.

Perhaps you think that hugs and hair sniffs are minor enough violations to give a pass too — I will say that I certainly don’t think they merit more than a request for an apology and a change in behavior.

But I will also say that *I do not want a president who is incapable of seeing outside himself*.

A very unpopular opinion that I have is that most modern organized atheism is just secular Christianity

There's a difference between Atheism — you know, the stuff that Richard Dawkins and Ricky Gervais are patron saints of — and atheism — just, you know, not believing in a deity — but a lot of people tend to miss that distinction

As a Jew who doesn't really believe in a higher power, I'm always going to feel *way* more comfortable in a synagogue that aligns with my politics than I am in some atheist meeting that mimics the format of church but with, like, rock songs instead of hymns

A while back I was working on a piece about how sex workers are the best equipped to do anti-trafficking work — a piece which, I am sad to say, got killed — and I spoke with several trafficking survivors whose stories were nothing like many of you would expect.

Everyone thinks it’s some Taken-style network of kidnappers locking women up in basements and forcing them to fuck and... while I’m not going to say that *never* happens, it is very likely not the most common form of trafficking.

- Teens can be sexual beings who feel desire and want to explore sex
- Adults should not have sex with teens

Conversations about statutory rape tend to lean heavily on this idea of teens being asexual kids who couldn’t possibly want sex and are being forced into it by adults, a framing that I think is actually harmful *to teens*.

This came up a lot during the Roy Moore election, when women tweeted out photos of themselves at 14 to prove that 14 year-olds are kids, actually, and therefore gross to sexually pursue.

I was attacked viciously by Democrats last year for saying that #Avenatti was not only not presidential material, but dangerous for Dems to tie themselves to, that he had questionable history with clients and contractors and women.

I was the 1st journalist Avenatti blocked.
1/

Hundreds of Democrats, including some prominent Twitter voices, claimed he would be our best choice for 2020 and excoriated me for "being divisive."
Avenatti tanked the fight against #Kavanaugh by bringing in a questionable witness who gave the #GOP an excuse to ignore Ford.
2/

Many of the #Avenatti fans are now pushing #Biden, which I have also said is a huge error in judgement.
Just as I warned #Mueller was not going to save us.
My point is simply that some of us have been covering politics for decades and doing it without fealty to individuals.
3/

Once upon a time, a long-ruling Queen had a daughter (who we’ll call Gigi, which is long for GG which is short for Goose Girl) who she loved very much. Nice to see some genuine familial affection for once, generally it’s the parents causing the mayhem.

The time had come for Gigi to leave home & travel to a distant kingdom where her fiancé, the prince waited. As she was Queen’s only child, the departure was, emotional.
QUEEN: WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
GIGI: Mom, calm down.
Q: [sobbing] I JUST LOVE YOU SO MUCH

Some men find it very hard to believe that these things are so common, because they would never DO those things. If I were a man and I hadn’t experienced harassment and inappropriate behavior multiple times, I would probably find it difficult to believe. 2 #MeToo#BelieveHer

I decided to share about what I’ve experienced, so that good men who respect women can start to understand that these things happen to women know they know, work with, are related to, and love, every day. Their friends, neighbors, coworkers, relatives. 3 #sexualharassment